My Mission Experience

Well, what he actually said was, “Stupid Christmas is making me fat!” In our communication today, Elder Peper was expressing his joy/frustration at all the wonderful goodies that he has been so generously provided by people in Norman, as well as some that came via his dad and me. He was complaining that the 10+ pounds he has worked off since he arrived on his mission are quickly piling back on since the Holiday season has begun. He told me that it would be okay, though, as he would run it off in January. Then he said that the tradition for missionaries is to eat really well and exercise a lot during their last six months. They call it the “Six Months to Sexy” plan!

Riley and his companion had a baptism this past Saturday that he was very excited about. It was a man named Donald who has been working with the missionaries for years and has finally been able to get things in order to make the commitment. Riley said that it was “awesome.”

Below are some photos that we received. From the looks of things, Elder Peper may be out converting people to the Gospel, but it appears that OU may be doing a little converting of Elder Peper. He loves the town of Norman and the University. I’m pretty sure that the lack of ski areas in Oklahoma will keep him from applying to attend, though.

He tells us that he and the Zone Leaders (he called them the “Zone Lords”) will be having a sleepover on Christmas Eve and then will join the Spanish Missionaries on Christmas morning to open gifts. He will be calling us around 11 am PT. We are very excited.

I borrowed this typewriter from the Spanish missionaries, so that I can write letters more quickly. The drawback is that I can’t correct my typos, so I guess you’ll just have to try and decipher a few of the words in this letter . . . or perhaps all of them. As you can tell, the shift button is also a little broken. It sticks when you push it down and it’s a really big pain to pull it back up every time, so I’m not going to use the shift key.

How are things going in Washington? I just got mom’s letter today. Perfect timing for my year mark. It sounded like Thanksgiving was awesome. Snow on top of snow, what more could you ask for. Actually, I hear that we’re supposed to get either snow or ice net week in a storm, so that’s pretty exciting. The weather here is so weird. It was 65 or so today and it’s supposed to snow next week. I wonder if it will actually happen, though. The weathermen don’t seem to know a whole lot about upcoming weather in Oklahoma. So, have you guys been skiing this season yet? Or is work still too busy for you to be worrying about that yet?

Well, today was our yearly Christmas missionary temple conference. So, it turned out to be a really good day. We left our apartment at about 7:30 for Oklahoma City and went to the temple and had a short missionary meeting, as well. I got to see a lot of my friends from previous areas and things like that, the temple was good, as well. I had a really good time and I’m really blessed to have a temple in my mission, and it’s really close to Norman—about an hour drive . . . maybe even 45 minutes.

One of our investigators has a baptismal date for December 18, and he’s doing really well. If you could extend your prayers for him that would be fantastic. One thing that I noticed on my mission, that I heard a lot of people talk about before I came on my mission, is that Satan will work really hard at discouraging those and tempting those who have committed to a baptismal date. I always thought that people made that sound like a bigger deal than it really was, but it’s really true. There have been quite a few investigators that I’ve taught or that I’ve heard about who have backed out of their baptism shortly before their date because Satan is working real hard on them. It’s real and it just shows you the power that Satan really has on people.

Today has been one year on my mission. It just honestly feels like another regular day . . . other than the fact that we went to the temple. Time really has flown, and I’m sure that it’s just going to get faster and faster, because that’s been my experience so far. Every transfer that I’ve been out has just gone more and more quickly. I can’t believe this is my 3rd transfer in Norman already. I remember it felt pretty long by my 3rd transfer in Burkburnett, TX. Speaking of Texas, I have heard that Jackie is doing really well and is super active and everything. The family with the mom and 2 kids we baptized are doing really well, too. I hear from them occasionally. I hear from Brother F. a lot, as well. I haven’t talked to anyone from Shawnee for a while, I should probably do that soon.

Let’s see . . . what else is new . . . Valerie is doing really well. She is actually living in our apartment complex now, so that is pretty handy. All of the people that we see on a regular basis seem to be doin really good.

Oh, we just got back from something that was really cool. There is an investigator named Eve, whose father just passed away, and she said that we could come over to her parents’ house tonight to teach a lesson (or at least that’s what we thought we were going over for). We called her right before we left our ward mission leader’s house (who gave us a ride over there) for directions. She told us that she didn’t want to have a lesson tonight because there were a ton of people over there that were her family and friends. So, we decided to go over there to say hello and to see if there was anything that they needed. When we got there, there were over 20 people in the apartment and they were all there for a “death celebration” or a celebration of life, I guess (the whole family is from Camaroon by the way). In any case, there was a lot of singing and dancing and stuff like that and it turned out to be really cool. They wouldn’t let us leave without trying some of the food that they had made. So, we did and it was really good stuff. It was actually a really cool time and everyone there was super nice to us and were really grateful that we were able to come over. It was just a really cool experience. Oh, Eve’s cousin is a member, I forgot to mention that.

Well, I guess that’s about all I’ve got for now. Thanks for everything. You are the coolest family that anyone could ever ask for, and I didn’t even have to ask for you (I don’t think). I think I was just lucky enough to get to be sent to you. Well, I hope everything is going well for everyone. Take care. Tell Madi and Delaney and everyone else who I can’t see that I love them tons. Thanks again. I love you. I will call you pretty soon. J

Love,

Elder Peper

PS: I think I just wrote you a couple of days ago. I can’t remember for sure, though. If I did—you get a bonus!

How are things going back in Washington? Is there still snow on the ground? I’m kind of hoping for a white Christmas again. Maybe it will snow a foot on Christmas Eve. Have you guys been skiing this season yet? The weather here is always varying. The day before Thanksgiving was about 80 degrees. And Thanksgiving’s high was 45 degrees. President Taylor said we could to to our ward’s Turkey Bowl or have a missionary one. Our ward didn’t do one, so all of the missionaries here got together and played football. It was a lot of fun. I like most of the missionaries that are in Norman. Our District stayed pretty much the same for transfers. We got one new missionary in our District, and he’s super cool. So everyone in my District is cool.

Thanksgiving was really cool. We went to a cool family’s house and had really good food. Thanksgiving was really fun; although, the week was really slow because everyone was gone, but it was okay. We’re going to have another Thanksgiving meal on Friday just for fun. Elder Egbert bought a turkey and we’re having Spanish bring pies. Tammy, a member who lives in our apartment complex, said she would make dressing. I’m making mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce, so it should be fun.

Tomorrow is Temple Conference, so I get to go to the temple tomorrow, which I’m really excited about. Tomorrow is also my year mark, which I can’t believe. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to find out that I’ve only been gone for six months. I think it’s felt really fast, but I’ve still got a way to go, which is good. I like being here a lot.

Sister Frazier, who got baptized shortly after I got to Burkeburnett, is going to go through the temple in January. Hopefully, I will get to be there, as well. That would be awesome. I miss that family a lot.

Well, I don’t know what else to report to you. Things are going just fine. No complaints at all. Thanks for your letters and love. Let me know if there is anything you want. Would you like an OU shirt or something? Let me know. I love you and will talk to you on Christmas.

About

Elder Peper is currently serving a two-year mission (December 2009 – December 2011) for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Oklahoma-Oklahoma City Mission. Elder Peper’s home ward is the Colville 1st Ward, Colville, Washington. His parents are posting the updates to this blog.